Agenda item

Report of the Director of Housing

The Director of Housing presented the report to Members.

In response to a question from Councillor N Smith, the Director of Housing explained that the main method of tenant participation in VfM issues was the Performance and Finance Working Group. This group put forward representatives to take part in the tender process, who then were involved in interviewing and assessing contractors, and the contract award process as a whole.  Councillor N Smith went on to ask how tenants were made aware of the group.  The Director of Housing responded that it was discussed at local Tenants Associations, referred to in the quarterly newsletters sent to all tenants and there was also a Resident Involvement Team within the Council.

Concerns were raised by Members regarding the lack of Member involvement within the strategy as they felt it was crucial.  The Director of Housing agreed that there was no specific reference to Member involvement and he would amend the strategy to reflect this before it was considered by Cabinet.

Councillor V Richichi expressed concerns regarding the criteria for ensuring value for money as he believed it would be very difficult to know if the Council was receiving true value for money.  He asked if penalties were invoked if a contractor’s work was unacceptable as he was aware that tenants were receiving compensation for poor work.  The Director of Housing explained that VFM criteria was based on a balance of cost, quality and customer satisfaction.  He reported that in the past some of the contracts had not been onerous enough on contractors, and there were sometimes no penalties, however this was something that was now changing and  included in future contracts.  He added that the Council often would not pay for poor workmanship and although compensation was paid, in some circumstances contractors would pay all or part of the claim.

In response to a further question from Councillor V Richichi, the Director of Housing confirmed that tenant’s opinions were used as part of reviewing the work undertaken because if complaints were high and quality was low it would be a sign that contractors were not delivering VfM, and therefore their performance needed to be formally addressed.

Councillor D Harrison requested more information regarding the levels of compensation.  He commented that he was happy with the strategy but believed that Members should have more involvement and asked if they could be made aware of residents within their wards that had made complaints.  The Deputy Monitoring Officer advised that it would be inappropriate and unlawful under the Data Protection Act for officers to notify Members of complainants. The Director of Housing encouraged Members to attend the Tenants and Leaseholders Consultation Forum and their Local Tenants Associations as ways of getting involved further.  He also reiterated his earlier comments and assured that Member involvement would be incorporated into the strategy before it was approved by Cabinet.

Councillor T Eynon concurred with Councillor V Richichi in that it was difficult to ascertain if the Council was actually getting true value for money, she believed it was a very managed strategy which had potential but had concerns regarding the underlying details.  She also agreed that Members should have more involvement. 

Councillor S Mckendrick asked what level of analysis was undertaken on the complaints received as this would help to measure value for money by means of service improvements. The Director of Housing explained that they used benchmarking and financial management to monitor spending.  He explained that complaints were broken down and measured by service area but he was aware that further analysis needed to be developed  to truly understand the results and implement learning.

In response to a question from Councillor S McKendrick, the Director of Housing reported that resident involvement was coordinated through Justin O’Brien and his team.

In response to a question from Councillor M Specht, the Director of Housing reported that any comments from the Tenants and Leaseholders Consultation Forum and the Performance and Finance Working Group would be reported to Cabinet on 21 July. The  comments from the Policy Development Group would be incorporated into an amended Strategy within the next few days before being presented to Cabinet.

RESOLVED THAT:

The comments provided by the Committee be considered by Cabinet when it meets on 21 July to discuss the Value for Money Strategy for the Housing Service.